Smart Artwork Guide

The sm@rt Artwork Guidelines define the quality criteria that determine the readiness of each of four common artwork formats. The guidelines cover both vector and raster art files, as well as including instructions to avoid common errors related to fonts and linked images.


Vector Artwork Files
Must be saved in the Postscript Format and contain no Postscript errors, stray points or colors assigned inconsistently to the supplier's published requirements.
All type that has been set must be converted to outlines (curves). If future changes to the text will be necessary, the original font file must be supplied with the art file for use on the supplier's specified computer platform (Mac or PC).
All design elements in the file must meet the supplier's published minimums for line thickness. Failure to do so may compromise the final imprint quality.
If the vector file contains any linked (placed) raster images, these images must meet the supplier's minimum requirement for resolution when rendered at 100% actual imprint size and must be submitted with the original vector file.

Raster Artwork Files
All Raster elements and art files must be sized to 100% or larger than the actual imprint size.
All Raster images must meet or exceed the supplier's published minimum resolution (pixels-per-inch) when rendered at the actual imprint size.
All raster elements must be submitted in the proper color space (RGB or CMYK) as published by the supplier.

Page Layout Document
Page layout documents must be prepared to render the artwork and all of its elements at 100% of actual imprint size.
In addition to submitting the page layout documents, all vector and/or raster files that are referenced by the page layout document must also be included.
Include any fonts that were used in the production of the page layout document or use on the supplier's specified computer platform (Mac or PC).

Acrobat (PDF) Files
PDF files created from vector files must retain the editing capabilities of the program that was used to create them (e.g. Illustrator or Freehand).
PDF files that contain raster elements must meet the minimum requirements for raster art files as outlined by the supplier.
PDF files that contain vector elements must meet the minimum requirements for vector art files as outlined by the supplier.
PDF files created from page layout documents should be submitted together with the source documents, fonts and all supporting files.

Proofs
No matter what the format or transfer method, artwork should NEVER be submitted without either a hard copy proof or the electronic equivalent. Properly prepared PDF files are often suitable as proofs.

Fonts
Any fonts used in the production of art files should be converted to curves (outlines) prior to submission. If future typesetting will be required, the original font files must be included with the artwork file to be used on the supplier's specific computer platform (Mac or PC).

Other Than Above
Only professional software packages may be used to produce artwork. Although programs like Microsoft Word and Publisher are useful tools, they are not capable of producing art files of a quality necessary for imprinting purposes.